Where items, typically mail documents, such as sheets, or mail carriers, such as envelopes, as printed in large batches or runs, are to be delivered by a postage service, the required postage value can either be applied on the mail carriers or directly to the mail documents. The direct application of postage value to mail documents facilitates the subsequent handling of the mail documents in not requiring the postage value subsequently to be applied separately to the mail carriers. Typically, postage value can be applied by way of an imprinted indicium incorporating an authentication code, which indicium, where applied directly to a mail document, is provided at a window of a windowed envelope, or an electronic label, such as a radio frequency (RF) tag, incorporating an authentication code.
The application of postage value can, however, lead to spoilage where mail documents or mail carriers are not properly imprinted or electronically labelled, for example, as a result of mis-registration of the printer or label writer or improper operation of the printer or label writer.
Where handling large batches of items, the numbers of spoiled items can be quite significant. Ordinarily, a batch of items including any spoiled items would be delivered to the postage service, with spoiled items being returned in due course, and thereby necessitating the manual handling of each of the spoiled items in order to request a refund of the postage value associated with each spoiled item. Where an item is spoiled, the item is currently required to be presented to the postage service for a refund of the applied postage value.
As will be appreciated, the requesting of refunds in respect of spoiled items is particularly laborious, and often refunds are not requested as the effort required to obtain the refunds does not merit the value of the refunds.
Also, as the present inventor has recognized, where the items include sensitive information, typically confidential, personal information, such as medical or financial information, the sensitive information should not be made available to a third party.
It is thus an aim of the present invention to provide an item handling system for and method of handling items, especially mail documents, such as sheets, and mail carriers, such as envelopes, which allow for identification of spoiled items, and in particular an item handling system for and method of refunding or reusing value as applied to spoiled items, especially postage value as applied to spoiled mail documents bearing sensitive information.